The disastrous Dark Universe may be long dead and buried, but that doesn’t mean that Universal are going to leave their stable of classic monsters alone. The studio are now taking a different approach to their iconic characters, and handing them off to a new group of filmmakers in a concerted effort to move away from the big-budget, star-driven approach that saw their last attempt derailed at the first hurdle following the dismal critical and commercial reactions to Tom Cruise’s The Mummy.
Paul Feig is currently developing an interesting-sounding concept called Dark Army, but first out of the gate next February is The Invisible Man, from Saw co-creator and Upgrade director Leigh Whannell. The movie is being overseen by Jason Blum, who has a solid track record in the horror genre, with his Blumhouse production company responsible for a string of box office hits including the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and The Purge franchises along with Split, Glass and Get Out.
The modern update of H.G. Wells’ classic story stars The Haunting of Hill House breakout Oliver Jackson-Cohen in the title role alongside Elisabeth Moss, and the first set of official images from the movie have been released, which you can check out below.
Given the title, there’s obviously no sight of Jackson-Cohen in character, what with him being an invisible man and all. Or is there?
The Invisible Man is a story that has been done to death across countless forms of media, so here’s hoping that Whannell and Blum manage to put a fresh spin on an incredibly familiar story. Both filmmakers have a great understanding of horror and are responsible for several movies that turned genre conventions on the head, and with two great actors in the leading roles, The Invisible Man stands a solid chance of being one of 2020’s early-year breakout hits.